A larger than usual turn out at Germany Valley this month with several new people left us scrambling to cover all the projects and make sure the new folks would have some fun. It was a challenge because most of the in-cave work was beyond the reach of your average sized caver. The weather was very cold, so most people wanted to get underground. Many teams did just that but a few worked on or near the surface on digs or ridge walking.

With Barry Horner and Bob Alderson I went to search a dense region of woods in Germany Valley. Shovel Eater Cave was known to exist somewhere in this vicinity as was a cave called Allen Property. On the day we surveyed this particular hole, I had convinced myself that we had found and would be surveying in Shovel Eater. It was some months later though that I learned the former owners of this property had been the Allen family. Subsequent conversations with Chuck Wilkinson and Fred Holmes led me to the real location of Shovel Eater and it was clearly not the cave we surveyed that day in August, 2002.

The surveyed length of Allen Property Cave is just over 92 feet. Its maximum depth is about 18 feet.

Allen Property Cave Map, right click for larger image. Copr. - D. S. Kouts, 2003

Barry Horner, Bob Alderson and Devin Kouts visit the entrance to Allen Property Cave. Copr. - D. S. Kouts, 2002